1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to corrective shoes, and more particularly it relates to a corrective shoe having a laterally adjustable plate along the medial margin adjacent the big toe and a varus wedge at the heel for treatment of metatarsus adductus, or skew foot. Skew foot is a common congenital foot deformity defined as a condition where the metatarsals are directed inward in relation to the lesser tarsus of the foot, i.e., the front portion of a foot tends to be medially curved.
The congenital foot deformity metatarsus adductus, or skew foot, can be corrected relatively easily, if it is not severe, during the early years of life. A common technique for reducing the deformity is to employ reverse last shoes or pronator shoes, a night splint, such as the Dennis Brown Bar or Ganley Splint, or to use a normal last shoe with an abduction strap. Reverse last shoes are the least optimal of solutions because the pressure is neither constant nor accurately applied during the abduction-based treatment, and reverse last shoes tend to cause the heel joint to collapse. Abduction strap shoes are only incrementally adjustable and may place pressure on the midtarsal joints from undesired directions and do not provide clearly defined correction.
What is needed is a corrective shoe to accurately and adjustably apply medial pressure, particularly while preventing the midtarsal joint from collapsing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,829 to C. A. Edwards describes a corrective shoe with an abduction strap across the metatarsal-phalangeal joint. This patent is believed to disclose the closest known art for correction of metatarsus adductus.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,945,688 to Howell describes a shoe having screw adjustable arch support. It represents one example of adjustable spring tensioning devices on the shoe. No such spring tensioning devices are known to the inventor for medially or laterally shaping the interior envelope of a shoe.